Abstract: A plasma ashing process and apparatus for selectively ashing photoresist and/or post etch residues from a semiconductor substrate includes generating a reduced ion density plasma in a plasma generation region at a pressure of at least 2 torr greater than the processing chamber pressure; and exposing the wafer surface having the photoresist and/or post etch residues thereon to the reduced ion density plasma to selectively remove the photoresist and/or post etch residues from the surface and leave the surface substantially the same as before exposing the substrate to the reduced ion density plasma.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
July 24, 2001
Date of Patent:
April 15, 2003
Assignee:
Axcelis Technolgoies, Inc.
Inventors:
Qingyuan Han, Ivan Berry, Palani Sakthivel, Carlo Waldfried